Tuesday Open Thread ~ It's whatever you want it day
Our local peace vigil singing 'This Land is Your Land" on the Commons Sunday, with feeling.
Welcome to today's edition of Caucus 99 Percent Open Thread. Hope your Memorial Day was fun. We had a little parade. A junior high school band, some brownie scouts , a few VFW types, a couple of political groups and bringing up the rear, a bunch of straggling old hippies carrying banners, encouraging positive social issues. Was proud to carry the bird of peace symbol. Got many applauses for that one, smiles, thumbs-up and the 2 finger vee style peace sign. There is hope for us yet.
Had made a big batch of ginger tonic to bring to a community gathering / potluck hoe down after the parade. Good food, good people and good music played by the Bonecrushers, a local garage band.
The you tube thingy is not working for me anymore. Normally I would stick some fine melody here to go with a theme. But have neither today. The frenetic commissioning schedule has sapped most of what was in my mind to share. So perhaps you can free associate a topic for discussion.
Did want to share the ginger tonic recipe:
Coarsely chop about 4 cups of ginger root into 5 quarts of water in a good size pressure cooker. Add about 2 cups turbinado cane sugar and mix to desolve. Add one tablespoon whole cloves and one tablespoon black peppercorns, Lock the lid and cook on high for about and hour
Allow to cool and strain into quart jars, stirring between pours. Makes a great Moscow Mule or add seltzer for a spicy Ginger Ale. I like mine straight on the rocks. Have variously tried nutmeg, Himalayan pink salt or cinnamon stick for variations.
Some will take the cooked ginger and sugar coat on an oven pan to make ginger candy. Yet to try that one -- too sweet for my taste.
That's about all I've got today. The creative portion of the brain is not co-operating, so make of it whatever you want!
Namaste
Comments
I'll put some music in the thread for today
Thanks jbob
Needed that!
Good morning, QMS! Thank you for the recipe.
Glad you had a good Sunday.
War is very, very bad. So bad, I used the F word over and over yesterday. https://caucus99percent.com/content/decoration-day-2019
On the other hand, peace is very, very good. Possibly, we may not have peace unless and until we figure out a way peace can make some people as obscenely wealthy as war has. Or a way to make sure war impoverishes the plutocrats.
I like a day dedicated to anything I want. I'm probably the only person to whom something like that appeals, though. (-;
Have a very good day.
Cheers HAW
The tonic is good for whatever oils you.
May the peace makers survive.
I think I will cry when she is gone
Angela Merkel warns against dark forces on the rise in Europe - By Luke McGee, CNN - 7 hrs ago
Didn't know how to embed the video. Christian Amanpour is Iranian.
Merkel is one of the good eggs
Hard to tell with today's omelets.
Not a fan
especially b/c of her stupid decision in 2015.
Couldn't get the video to produce sound, but understand she is blaming rise of antisemitism in Germany on the native far-right. I think it's much more than that.
Interesting too that this was her first interview in her 15 yrs in office with an American tv network.
Hoping for the Greens to emerge in the next national elections, whenever they are in Germany.
Gotta make like a banana and split
Make like a tree and leaf.
Another useless day's energy to spend.
Carry on...
Peace
Good morning QMS, et al. Not too much to contribute.
Today is dentist day, with brand new replacement dentist selected as a replacement by my old one, who retired. Trying to also make it "pick up all the shit I've been forgetting" day, requiring listing and thinking. So far 2 coffees, no breakfast and no real ideas about anything except my list.
Meditation? Mindfulness? I just had a mini-awakening, the need to apply some of that to our day to day and minute-to-minute interaction with the environment, in all ways. Everyday I do less than I could/should. One trigger was a phrase and municipal goal "Zero Waste". Contemplate that. How to get there? Both big steps and baby steps. I've come a good way, but have a long way to go. Hurrying, as in all other things, leads to omissions and fuck-ups, so think, plan, act, but, be mindful, at all times, of one's impacts. Something to consider/think on.
Here's something else to always keep in mind, disgusting as the outcome can be:
And be sure to communicate!
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
How about an absence of suffering day?
Good Morning QMS,
One wish. That's all you get. What would you use if for? $100 million? Sure, that'd be great. How about $100 million for everyone? Sounds good but would that really help humanity? How about no more wars? No more famine? No more deprivation?
How about we take that wish a step further with a global consciousness raising where everyone internalizes the difference between want and need. Between greed and giving. Between relative happiness and absolute happiness?
After watching middle class Americans fill up their grocery carts with $200 worth of food yesterday, I thought about the luck of the draw that afforded us the opportunity of being born here instead of a place America is bombing. Pretty sure no one over there is filling up their carts with cases of wine, orange chicken, pork loins, ribs, hamburger buns, cookie butter, salted caramel gelato, and vegan marshmallows.
It took a great deal of effort to bite my tongue when well meaning people asked me if I was enjoying my holiday. My best answer was just to lie and tell them, yes, I was. Anything else would've opened the door to a political conversation that would've bitten me in the ass and got me pulled aside by management.
All around, a very conflicting day for me.
On a lighter note, I did get an Armenian speaking women ask me if we carried the powder that makes the bread. As a purveyor of words, I really appreciated that unique take on flour.
Thanks for the ginger tonic recipe. I don't have a pressure cooker but do you think it would work in a crock pot?
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
100 mil, 100 billion
maybe just a shift in consciousness to low consumption, and zero waste ( I am liking that bc I have been thinking about it ).
One wish - world peace with zero Earth extraction.
And I just had this thought this morning...
Do not touch The Capitalism. Please step back from The Capitalism. Righto...
Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation
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Can't see why not the crock pot
May be better. The pressure cooker works best because it shortens the cooking time, therefore the amount of energy taken. A slow, low heat may actually get you better results. Haven't one to experiment on, but let me know your results. Thx.
I would have a hard time biting my tongue too . . .
Yet I do it all the time. Most of my friends and family don't get it. If you only watch MSM it would be pretty impossible.
On a brighter note, here is a picture of my garden. I left it high-res in case anyone wants to look closer.
One of my gardening buddies is in the pic. "Waterdog." My then two year old son named him. He also named a cat "BlackandWhite." Waterdog is an old man. Probably 17 or 18. He is still the fastest dog we have but I think he is getting a bit senile. He has a blue eye and a brown eye and usually sleeps by my side of the bed.
Back to the picture. The water faucet in the front is from the rain capture system my husband built this spring. I did not plant those willow trees. They are only 2 years old and must have seeded from the bales. But now we have some shade. It is pretty great.
At some point I will write an essay with more pictures.
I turned 62 today. Feel the same as yesterday.
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
Happy Birthday Marilyn !
Now you can file for SS paybacks!
Thank you!!
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
Yea!
A very Happy Birthday to you!
Love the pic of your garden, btw...
Thank you!!
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
Marilyn:
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Thank you!!
Great cat btw
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
Happy Birthday Marilyn!
I'm at work right now on my cell phone so I can't see the details of your garden but what I can see is like Wow!
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
Thank you!!
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
Beautiful changes to the garden.
Comparing to the early pictures you've posted of the hay bales and keyhole gardens illustrates how much the soil has improved.
Happy Birthday! It looks like your present is the willows in the garden area. She garden is creating its own microclimate with shade and transpiration. My willosws shares a few leaves for tea to take care of a little stiffness. (Don't use if have aspirin or salycilate restrictions.)
Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.
Thank you!!
Yes . . . the garden is evolving nicely. Still planting in bales and raised beds but endeavoring to improve the soil around them too. The willows shade the plants but also provide a nice place to sit and enjoy a cool breeze in the afternoon.
I am interested in your willow leaf tea. How do you make it?
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
Willow Tea
I use a couple of methods. My favorite weeping willow tree is at the far side of the pasture. Simply pluck 2-4 leaves chew them as I continue changing irrigation. The bark twigs are too bitter for me (though just under the bark is medicinally stronger). The fresh leaves very seldom make it too the house. If seen carrying them I get brayed at by the donkeys or baa from a ewe.
For tea the leaves have been dried and stored in mason jars. Crumble 4 to 5 leaves into a tea strainer alone or with other herbs and seep for 3 to 5 minutes in water about 195 degrees. I will add an assortment of orange peal, chamomile, regular tea or ginger depending n the effects desired and flavor. The fresh leaves seeping time varies with the maturity of the leaves. Very individualized.
Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.
Shhh
keep it secret-secret. The feds may call it a controlled substance.
mums the word - must keep pain relief method secret.
Wouldn't want another health treatment limited to government approved vendors or practitioners only like Massachusetts is trying to do with QiGong and mindful meditation. Fortunately Oklahoma killed their bill.
Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.
zero waste and net-zero emissions
by 2025...
zero waste is a hard one. There is so much packaging for just about everything. And even when there isn't there are often food containers which are plastic, not glass. And we are most certainly not a bring-your-own-container culture.
As for net-zero emissions, well, hmmm... shaking head. okay, then. Maybe not go there right now.
Love the one your with because why not and what else...
Have a good one, all
Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation
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zero waste can work
make packaging biodegradable, feed the earth with it. Get back to glass. Cut out the plastic. Store carbons. Grow bio-based alternatives. Hemp, vines. Earth based ingredients. Shrink your circle to bike lengths. Turn off the TV. Electrons for the good!